Cauliflower and Goat Cheese Gratin

Last week I attended the bi-monthly dinner for my Mixing Bowls Cookbook Club. The hostess chose Bobby Flay as the spotlight chef, and so I made his Cauliflower and Goat Cheese Gratin. I followed the recipe nearly exactly. (I will make a few changes next time, but I will tell you what they are as we go.)   

Yesterday I showed you how to recondition an old iron skillet and end up with this (above)...

when you started with this!

Today I'm giving you the recipe for the rich and creamy Cauliflower and Goat Cheese Gratin.

Begin with a medium-sized head of cauliflower. You'll notice there were a couple of little brown spots. 

I took a paring knife and sliced those off.

Pull off any leaves to expose the core before cutting.

Then I used the paring knife to cut out the core. 

Next, I cut it into bite-sized pieces. Not too large - you want them to cook up to be tender.

I even cut up the core once I removed the leaves.

I cut it into the same size pieces as the florets.

Once everything is the same size, rinse well.

 

Here's what makes it so creamy - THREE cheeses!

6 ounces goat cheese
6 ounces grated Monterrey jack cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Melt two tablespoons butter in a non-stick skillet and then add two tablespoons flour. (I will probably double the flour next time. It was not thick enough this way.) Cook the flour for 1-2 minutes over medium, stirring constantly. Don't let it get brown.

Next, it called for three cups whole milk. I buy 1%, so I used one cup milk and two cups heavy cream. (I found another recipe for this - still credited to him - that only called for two cups heavy cream. That sounds more reasonable and might even do away with the need for more flour.) Whisk well until smooth.

Bring to a boil and reduce to medium, stirring until thickened.

Butter your skillet. Isn't that a pretty skillet?!

Drop in half of the goat cheese and all of the Monterrey jack. Stir until melted. 

Add salt and pepper to taste. I seasoned this THREE times before I felt it was right. Once it was baked, I felt it could have taken even more.

Pour over cauliflower and mix well.

Pour into buttered skillet and add Parmesan and rest of goat cheese.

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until bubbly and brown. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

I added chopped parsley just before serving. Isn't that pretty?

I have to admit that it was very watery the first night. We used a slotted spoon and were able to leave some liquid behind. As I said, we salted it again at the table. 

I took the rest home and put it in the fridge. The next day, I heated up a bowl in the microwave, and it was DELICIOUS! Much better than the first day. 

I will adjust the amount of liquid next time from 3 to 2 cups, and probably still increase the flour from 2 to 3 tablespoons. I think that should help it to be thicker right out of the oven. 

Even with these minor problems, the flavor was great, and it smelled AMAZING. I heated some up the next day, and Jewell wandered into the kitchen wondering what smelled so good! The child actually ate cauliflower. And liked it! That should tell you something! This recipe is a keeper (with minor adjustments).

I'm so glad you stopped by my neck of the woods!

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